NovaUI

NovaUI is an early-stage Python-first UI framework. Describe interfaces with Python components; a lightweight HTML, CSS, and JavaScript renderer displays the same UI in a browser or an optional desktop webview.

The project favors a small declarative API, ordinary Python for application logic, and explicit boundaries between Python events and browser rendering. NovaUI is an MVP, not a production-ready or fully accessible framework.

What works today

• Browser UI with text, buttons, inputs, layout components, forms, routing, dialogs, and themes.
• Reactive State values and computed Text content refreshed after UI events.
• Searchable, sortable, filterable, selectable, paginated in-memory DataTable.
• Optional desktop hosting via pywebview, with window controls, file dialogs, text clipboard, shortcuts, and menus where the platform backend supports them.
• CLI for project creation, running apps, basic checks, and Python package builds.
• Explicit, trusted Python extensions for compositional components, named themes, and app-scoped services.

Python 3.10 or newer is required. Browser mode is the default. Desktop mode needs pywebview plus a platform webview. NovaUI has been tested locally on Linux; CI is configured for additional OS and Python versions, but that is not the same as a completed release compatibility review.

Install and run

NovaUI requires Python 3.10 or newer. The public source repository is sumankrsaurabh/NovaUI. NovaUI has not yet been published to PyPI, so pip install novaui is not available yet.

Install this source checkout:

python -m venv .venv
# Linux/macOS: source .venv/bin/activate
# Windows PowerShell: .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install -e '.[dev]'
python examples/counter.py

To install the current source without development tools, use python -m pip install .. To build a wheel and source archive, use python -m pip install '.[build]' followed by python -m novaui build.

Install directly from GitHub:

python -m pip install "git+https://github.com/sumankrsaurabh/NovaUI.git"

For a local clone and editable development install:

git clone https://github.com/sumankrsaurabh/NovaUI.git
cd NovaUI
python -m pip install -e '.[dev]'

The default branch may change without notice. A version-tag install becomes available after the corresponding tag is published, for example python -m pip install "git+https://github.com/sumankrsaurabh/NovaUI.git@v0.1.0". The PyPI command python -m pip install novaui will work after the first package release.

Directly running an example opens a browser by default. To scaffold a project with the CLI:

novaui create hello_app
cd hello_app
novaui run --open-browser

For a desktop window, install the optional dependency and run an example with --desktop:

python -m pip install -e '.[desktop]'
python examples/counter.py --desktop

For the optional Qt webview backend:

python -m pip install -e '.[desktop-qt]'

Qt's license and platform requirements should be reviewed before redistributing desktop applications. The base package has no runtime dependencies; dev and build extras are only for maintainers.

Linux also needs a supported GTK/WebKitGTK or Qt/WebEngine backend and a graphical session. The desktop-qt extra installs Qt Python packages with their own license terms; see desktop setup before distributing an application.

Minimal app

import novaui as ui

count = ui.state(0)

ui.app(
    ui.Column(
        ui.Text("Hello, NovaUI!", size=28, bold=True),
        ui.Text(lambda: f"Count: {count.value}"),
        ui.Button("Add", on_click=lambda: count.update(count.value + 1)),
        spacing=16,
        padding=24,
    ),
    title="Counter",
)

Text supports bold=True; there is no weight argument. Inputs can bind to ui.state(...), and callback events are registered by opaque IDs. See the first app tutorial for a complete walkthrough.

Documentation and examples

• Documentation index
• Installation and first app
• Component reference
• Forms and routing
• CLI reference
• Extension guide
• Security policy and limitations
• Examples gallery
• Phase 11 application validation guide

The examples/ directory contains counters, forms, dashboards, tables, routing, desktop utilities, extension samples, and the Phase 11 Studio, Admin, and PyOffice Notes applications. See the gallery for the correct run mode; desktop examples require a working GUI backend.

Development and releases

python -m pip install -e '.[dev]'
PYTHONPATH=. python -m pytest -q
python -m ruff check novaui tests examples packaging
node --check novaui/frontend/app.js
python -m build --sdist --wheel
python -m twine check dist/*

HTTP tests need permission to bind loopback sockets. novaui check runs syntax/import/metadata checks and project tests; it is not a security audit. The repeatable release checklist is in RELEASING.md. Do not publish artifacts without maintainer authorization.

Current limitations

• The local server is for development and desktop use, not hardened public hosting. It has no user authentication or process isolation.
• Updates are requested after UI events; background state changes are not pushed live. The server returns the full component tree after interactions.
• Tables are in-memory and not virtualized. Editable grids, charts, rich-text editors, upload/download widgets, and command palettes are not implemented.
• Forms validate supported string fields synchronously. Repeat security-sensitive validation in trusted application services.
• Accessibility and cross-platform desktop behavior still need broader manual review. Desktop dialogs, menus, and clipboard support depend on the OS backend.
• Extensions execute trusted Python in-process; they are not sandboxed and are not automatically discovered.
• The public API is experimental before 1.0; see contribution and compatibility guidance.

NovaUI is distributed under the MIT License. Contributions and security reports are welcome; see CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md.

To uninstall a source or PyPI installation, run python -m pip uninstall novaui in the same environment. Release builds and publication setup are documented in RELEASING.md; publishing is intentionally a separate, maintainer-authorized step.